The new
European Commission has taken office under its new president, Jean-Claude
Juncker. The former Luxembourg prime minister is supported by seven vice
presidents and 20 commissioners.
Deutsche Welle, 1 Nov 2014
After
months of political wrangling over the appointments to the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and his team officially replaced his predecessor, Jose
Manuel Barroso, and his Commission on Saturday.
The first
vice president, former Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, is to serve as
Juncker's right-hand man. Another foreign minister, Federica Mogherini of
Italy, has taken over from Britain's Catherine Ashton as the 28-member bloc's
high representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
Slovakia's
Maros Sefcovic has taken over responsibility for energy policy from Germany's
Günther Oettinger, who remains in the Commission, but has now been put in
charge of the digital economy and society portfolio.
Economy,
jobs among top priorities
Among the
other key appointments are France's Pierre Moscovici, who is the new Economy
Commissiner, and Jyrki Katainen of Finland, who is now in charge of the jobs
and growth portfolio.
Both
Moscovici and Katainen are to take center stage on Tuesday, when they are to
present the European Commission's autumn economic forecast.
Europe's challenges cannot wait. As of today, my team and I will work hard to deliver the new start we have promised. http://t.co/sGhX566FsF
— Jean-Claude Juncker (@JunckerEU) October 31, 2014
The new
Commission has taken office at a time of renewed concern over the EU's economy,
with the bloc afflicted by sluggish growth, inflation regarded as too low and
high unemployment.
Juncker has
said that one of his Commission's highest priorities will be creating jobs and
he has pledged to begin implementing a 300-billion euro ($380 billion) stimulus
package by the end of the year.
This comes
despite disagreement between two of the bloc's biggest economies about the
correct path to follow. While Germany and others are seeking more austerity as
a way of bringing down national deficits, some, such as the government of
Socialist French President Francois Hollande, favor the idea of spending their
way back into economic well-being.
pfd/tj (AFP, dpa)
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